He must submit an offer within 30 days after a written decision by Lord Bannatyne following an earlier hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

A source close to the club said: "The court has been notified of the chairman's intention to seek leave to appeal.

"That is likely to be granted and Dave's advisers believe he will win that appeal."

King was ruled to have acted in concert with George Letham, Douglas Park and George Taylor when they bought a combined stake of 34 per cent of the club in early 2015.

The Glaswegian is now liable to make an offer totalling almost £11million for the remainder of the shares.

King owns about 15 per cent of the Rangers International Football Club plc shares through his family trust, New Oasis Asset Limited, and the judge rejected his claim that he did not have control over its assets.

Lord Bannatyne also dismissed King's argument that he could not afford to buy the shares and his assertion that the 20p share price set by the Takeover Panel was so far below the market price that shareholders would not accept it. Both arguments were deemed "irrelevant".